Household

The Serafe fee explained: Switzerland's household media charge

The short answer: Serafe is the mandatory radio/TV fee of CHF 335 per year per household (not per person) – billed automatically based on residents' register data. You can't opt out by not owning a TV; only few exemptions exist (e.g. recipients of supplementary benefits).

Von Leutrim MiftarajGründer von BudgetHub, MSc Innovation Management (FFHS)

How billing works

Serafe pulls household data from official registers – no registration needed, no escape by ignoring letters. Shared flats count as one household and split internally; the invoice can be paid annually or in instalments.

Exemptions and special cases

Recipients of AHV/IV supplementary benefits can request exemption. Deaf-blind households and residents without any device-capable connection have narrow special rules. Moving in together? One household, one fee – a small perk of cohabitation.

One of the fixed costs to simply plan

CHF 335/year ≈ CHF 28/month – put it in the budget and forget the annual surprise.

Track these costs in your own budget: create your free Swiss budget in BudgetHub – in English, with Swiss categories built in.

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Erstelle dein Budget in BudgetHub – kostenlos, ohne Kreditkarte.

The Serafe fee explained: Switzerland's household media charge · BudgetHub.ch